My friend Dave bequeathed 3 sets of boules to me. They had been in his shed on a French campsite for many years and were rusty, spotty and discoloured. After a preliminary scrub I found out that one set were Boule Noire which was a French company founded in 1967 and had created the famous “COU” brand but in 1985 the brand was bought by Obut. They now make a CX Cou boule with a black satin finish which rubs off with use. They retail now for €211. You can have lisse (smooth) or une strie (one stripe). My boules were smooth.
So I thought they were worth saving and upcycling. There’s only so much you can do with spit, wire wool and Mr Muscle so I decided to bring in the professionals. I found a local metal polishing company on the web and went in person, showed them my boules and chatted to the boss. All the staff were polishing aircraft wings and oil tankers in an old mill building but he was sympathetic and interested and promised to have a go at cleaning my boules. I said I couldn’t obviously pay his commercial polishing rate but he said OK. I left them with them overnight and went back the next day.
This is the before picture
And the result of a good polish
What’s more he threw in a polishing cloth and a small jar of his firm’s secret formula metal polish. All this for a small donation to the corporate biscuits tin.
I used a firm called High Spec Metal polishers in Sowerby Bridge but I’m sure there are metal polishers near you. Depends whether you want very shiny, look like brand new boules or whether you value patina, rust and discolouration.
I went further and wrote to Obut quoting the unique reference number and asking if they could tell when they were made and what the diameter was. Here’s their reply.
“We have received your email and thank you for your attention to our brand. The reference number of a triplet does not allow us to date the product. Regarding the diameter, you can use a caliper. We remain at your disposal.”
At least they replied in English and within 24 hours but a tad disappointing. The website laboulenoire.fr redirects to Obut and the wayback machine doesn’t have any other hits. La Boule Noire is a concert hall in Montmartre.
I now have a pristine set of La Boule Noire lisse 700g in shiny silver. I’ll find a caliper in a day or two.
Huddersfield Pétanque 